The short story De Obsessie deals with Otto III, who longs for his bride and Het Raadsel is about the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon.

When Veen refused to accept Couperus' proposal these books were finally published by Van Holkema en Warendorf.

"[8] In De Gids a very negative review was published and Couperus was called "a mediocre student of Lawrence Alma-Tadema".

[9] In 1965, when the second edition was published, a critic of the Gereformeerde Gezinsblad wrote: "As soon as one reads the first sentence of the story one is placed in a completely different time.

"[11] In 1930 actrice Ellen Verano read out the story De Naumachie during a meeting of the Louis Couperus Genootschap.